The ‘Top 10′ observations, opportunities and new learnings from the 2012 retail study tour

There comes a time when you have simulate and synthesise all the information you gather and compile, on an

intensive tour like the one we have been on …and it’s not easy to be brief and too the point ….apologies if I mis-quote

Mark Twain ” I wrote a paragraph because I didn’t have the time to write a sentence”

So here goes….

Key Observations

1] The Best Businesses have leaders with a clear and simple vision … as exampled by Jeff Bezos of Amazon or Jim Sinegal of Costco Phillip Green of Arcadia and Millard Drexler of J Crew …and more often than not they are founders and major shareholders

2] The Best Businesses move at their ‘own pace’ …never being pushed or rushed into new markets or new categories without thorough and complete analysis followed by measured and small trialling….and then only if it fits their business metrics

3] The Best Businesses have a strong and meaningful brand at their core… brands that are ‘wanted not needed’ that live in the subconscious mind and are rich in meaning to their chosen consumer

4] The Best Brand obsess about their consumer/shopper …using data and insights to know more and understand more about them….and not just their shopping habits but everything about them

Key Opportunities

5] The Best Brands are working diligently on ‘multi-channel’ strategies …and it all starts with a ‘single view of the inventory…in live time’

6] The Best Businesses ‘control their Distribution and supply channels’ …be that with National brands, exclusives and verticality

7] The Best Businesses ‘ own and cherish their customer data files’ never sharing them and treating them with respect

New learnings

8] Amazon wins if the category becomes a commodity … as their advantage is that they are the migrator of IT and can afford to constantly innovate …with a scalable resource focused on fulfilment

9] The online space is constantly changing with a seismic shift happening every 4 years …2006 to 2010 was the ‘user generated’ period….and now we are in the ‘mobile’ period which started in 2010 …but what happens in 2014?

10] All current retail growth is either thru International expansion, Online development [again notably international or Multi] or thru a devoted focus too ‘Value’

These 10 insights will be expanded upon and fleshed out into a full presentation that will be available in the near future